Most semi-automatic pistols' cycle of operation consists of feeding, chambering, locking, firing, unlocking, extracting, and ejecting a prior art cartridge 10 (shown in FIG. 1). The cartridge has a case head 12, extractor groove 14, body 16 that typically holds the powder charge, and bullet 18. During this process, the extractor 24 and breech face (not shown) interact with the case head and extractor groove. In feeding, the back 20 of the case head slides up the breech face as the pistol's slide (not shown) moves forward. The lip 22 of the cartridge case head slides between the breech face and the extractor, with the extractor riding in the extractor groove. Thus, the extractor holds the cartridge against the breech face. The breech face pushes the back of the case head forward, and the extractor helps to align the cartridge case as the cartridge case is chambered. The breech face and extractor continue to hold the cartridge case in place during the locking and firing process. As the pistol barrel unlocks from the slide, the extractor continues to hold onto the case head. Once the pistol's slide moves rearward, the extractor pulls the cartridge case from the chamber. When the slide nears the end of its rearward travel, the case head strikes the ejector (not shown), which is typically located on the opposite side from the extractor. Contact with the ejector forces the cartridge to stop moving rearward on that side. Since the extractor is still pulling from the opposite side, the case head moves away from the breech face on the ejector side. Continued outward force is transferred onto the extractor until the extractor can no longer maintain its hold on the case head, and the cartridge is ejected. The fit between the case head, extractor groove, and the extractor is essential for the proper cycling of the pistol.
A semi-automatic firearm's cycle of operation can be interrupted by numerous failures, which are generally cleared by one of two techniques. Expertise in these clearing techniques is essential to anyone relying on a semi-automatic firearm for protection. Law enforcement officers and other trained professionals practice these clearing techniques on a regular basis to ensure their proficiency. Various products have been developed to facilitate training in these clearing techniques.
The Action Trainer Dummy Round manufactured by S.T. Action Pro, Inc. of Coca, Fla. simulates a failure to fire malfunction. The failure to fire malfunction is easily created by inserting the Action Trainer Dummy Round into a magazine. When the Action Trainer Dummy Round is chambered, it will not discharge because it is an inert round. The shooter uses the tap/rack clearing technique by tapping the magazine's baseplate to ensure the magazine is properly positioned and then racking the slide to clear the chamber and cycle a new round. However, when the Action Trainer Dummy Round is used to simulate a failure to extract malfunction, shooters must hand place the dummy round in the chamber, then let the slide go forward on a magazine containing additional cartridges, live or dummy. This forces the next round from the magazine into the back of the dummy round in the chamber. Then, the shooter must place the gun in a shooting position and pretend they were in the middle of a course of fire when the malfunction occurred. Then the shooter practices clearing the malfunction. This leads to unrealistic training that becomes cumbersome and ineffective.
The Hard Malfunction Device manufactured by Range Systems, Inc. of New Hope, Minn. is placed in the bottom of a magazine to cause a full stoppage of a firearm occur during a course of fire to simulate a double feed or failure to extract malfunction. The Hard Malfunction Device is not a cartridge and cannot be cleared with the tap/rack technique. Instead, the device forces the shooter to remove and discard the magazine it is in. This is again an unrealistic training method, as this type of stoppage may occur with a loaded magazine that is of value to the shooter.
Another way of producing a failure to extract malfunction is to file down the hook 26 on the pistol's extractor so the hook cannot grab onto the cartridge case head correctly. This approach has the disadvantage of requiring an armorer to swap the pistol's extractor or for a trainee to use a designated pistol with a malfunctioning extractor to run this drill. It also limits what else can be accomplished at the same time since the stoppage cannot be limited to just one round (all rounds are affected).
Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved stoppage-inducing ammunition cartridge that discharges the same as a conventional live cartridge, but subsequently creates a failure to extract malfunction that enables realistic training of the clearing technique. In this regard, the various embodiments of the present invention substantially fulfill at least some of these needs. In this respect, the stoppage-inducing ammunition cartridge according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of providing a training ammunition cartridge that discharges the same as a conventional live cartridge, but subsequently creates a failure to extract malfunction that enables realistic training of the clearing technique.